Podcasts are a way of communicating with the world. Like a phone call where you talk out your thoughts and opinions. Or if you're on the other end, it's as if you're in a conversation with two of your friends talking about an idea. But for this post, let's stay on the topic of being the speaker!
The world of endless possibilities lives within one's mind, and all podcasting does is brings it to life within conversations! Let's say, for example, you've had crazy stories you've wanted to share with others or ideas you want to present to the world that maybe no one's thought of yet. Starting up a podcast can help express those thoughts and ideas! There's no such thing as a bad idea, and this sort of technology can bring out one's true self into fruition. I myself have had this realization within a podcast that I and Harsha run called "Fill in the Blank" and to start off a podcast, you need to have an idea of what you want to discuss.
As I've said before, there's no such thing as a bad idea. When starting a podcast, however, you can't create one without a proper idea behind it. Sure you might want to talk about your daily life, that can be the main topic you speak about on your show! But also, condense your idea down to what you specifically talk about. To thoroughly engage your audience initially, you don't wanna drag out too long about one event or idea. You might find it important to talk about, but also put yourself into a listener's shoes: would talking about one idea for 15-30 minutes be interesting for you? If so, go for it! But if not, that's alright! Engaging your audience means discussing multiple ideas, perspectives, and thoughts. One tip I always use on my podcast is to treat the guest as a friend! Our podcast isn't very serious otherwise our guests would be pressured in answering all of our questions right rather than telling us what they really view. If you plan on speaking on your podcast by yourself, treat your listeners as your friends. It can help you with engaging your audience and additionally relieve the stress of recording an episode!
Having this sort of mindset can allow you to start a podcast! There are many mediums to start a podcast off of but one medium I recommend the most is Anchor. Anchor allows the user to easily start up a podcast and get it shared onto Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and even more! It's probably one of the most essential tools I use with my own! Using Anchor, you can record what you want directly onto this medium and save these audio clips within a digital bank. Using this bank, you can arrange certain clips in any order and form your very own episode with ease! Additionally, you can even obtain sponsorships to earn money from each episode if you'd like! But of course, a fair warning, you get more and more sponsorships if your podcast gets lots of listens. So you can strive to reach that goal by engaging your audience of course! If you ever want to earn at least a small amount of money per listen, Anchor does give you the opportunity with their own sponsorship which is $15 per thousand listens on an episode.
Starting a podcast of course requires steps and although these are the basics, there is much more to learn about Podcasting Technology. Finding topics to engage your audience is one step to a multitude of opportunities, ideas, and thoughts that can lead you onto each episode you create with your voice. I will be discussing more steps to undertake and ideas to explore but until then, keep your thoughts wild and the sky is the limit with your dreams!